Chemical fertilizers

What are Chemical fertilizers?

The term “chemical fertilizer” refers to any number of synthetic compound substances created specifically to increase crop yield. Some chemical fertilizers, for example, are “nitrogenous” — containing nitrogen — while others are phosphate-based. Other fertilizers are potassium.

How does chemical fertilizers cause climate change?

Crops only take up, on average, about half of the nitrogen they get from fertilizers. Much of the applied fertilizer runs off into waterways, or gets broken down by microbes in the soil, releasing the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.

Excessive use of chemical fertilizers has led to several issues such as

• soil degradation
• nitrogen leaching
• soil compaction
• reduction in soil organic matter
• and loss of soil carbon.